Phantom Shadows
by KosagiNoLegion
Summary: Time is not set in stone, but the consequences of change are not always what we want. A Kaitou KidShadow of Destiny Crossover. Five Chapters: COMPLETE
1. Prologue

**_Phantom Shadows_**  
Prologue  
A KaitouKid/Shadow of Destiny Crossover  
By  
Deborah J. Brown.

Kaitou Kid is Copyright Aoyama Gosho. Shadow of Destiny and all concepts relating to it is Copyright Konami.

* * *

Once upon a time there was an alchemist. He had a wife. A daughter. A son. He had a life as content as a life could be. Respected by his neighbors and loved by his family. Not a perfect life, by any means, but a happy one. 

He also had an obsession.

A red stone. Clear as glass and red as blood. A stone that contained the power to change the world.

Sadly, his obsession drove him to ignore his family. To ignore his dying wife and his lonely children. Even after his wife died, he continued to search, never noticing that his daughter was growing more distant and his son more rebellious, more filled with hate.

When a stranger brought him the red stone, therefore, he didn't hesitate to use it to create a new life. Except the stone he used contained a life that was very old indeed. Not that that life had existed in any time previous to the day his wife had died. No, if it had, quite a few things could have been resolved more easily. Rather that life had been previously created many decades _later_, by his own son, and commanded to restore the shattered family. Its age was the age of one who had cycled eternally through time, through the same set of years, over and over again. Learning from those cycles but never free of them.. Learning anger. Learning hate. Learning fear.

It had been given an impossible task. The lifeform could not reach out of the time periods where it existed, without the help of a human to carry its dormant form there. Yet when it was brought backwards in time to save the alchemist's wife, the son did not create it in his later years - for he had no reason to do so. Thus a paradox was created, and time not only does not like paradox, it positively hates it, wiping it out of existence with brutal efficiency.

Over and over the lifeform and the stone were used in ways that created paradox after paradox. The cycle expanded, grew to include a man - seemingly from the 20th century - who, after many different iterations of the same tangled and ruinous paths of death and re-creation, found the only solution to the puzzle. Rather than permit the stone to be used to heal the dying mother, it was used to restore the lifeform, who - in return - used its own power to save the alchemist's wife.

Thus a new, stable pattern was formed. In the future, the alchemist's son would create the gem from which the lifeform would be born. Would place that gem in hiding, until the man who had solved the tangle could take it back in time. And to keep that pattern safe, the lifeform remained in watch, guarding the stone with its spells and creating the man whose wisdom would save them all from paradox. Once that man had been the alchemist himself, but now, through spells and much the same alchemy as had created the lifeform, he was a created being, given the memories needed to understand and solve matters.

For a time, it seemed all was safe. For a time it appeared the plan would work without any further interference.

But the change in the past resulted in an unexpected ripple. A child who had not existed before. It was a change that could break the chain. Because that child was born the gem was stolen.

To Be Continued...

NOTE: See my story "Out of the Shadows" for an explanation of the above.


	2. Unintended Consequences

**_PHANTOM SHADOWS_**  
Chapter 1: Unintended Consequences: In which Kaito discovers there are more things in heaven and on earth.  
A KaitouKid/Shadow of Destiny Crossover  
By  
Deborah J. Brown.

Kaitou Kid is Copyright Aoyama Gosho. Shadow of Destiny and all concepts relating to it is Copyright Konami.

* * *

_Picture a room. Enshrouded in darkness, what little light there is casts a faint sepia tone over the scene. Picture the head of a shattered statue. A column. A door. A window. _

_It's the window that's most important. There is magic to all windows. Neither a portal, nor yet a wall, a window shows what lies beyond while protecting the watcher. This window is especially important, for most windows only show one view. This one, however, displays all eternity. _

_Right now it shows a comedy. _

oOo

"DAMN YOU KAITOU KID! I SWEAR YOU WON'T GET AWAY NEXT TIME!"

The sounds of sirens. The yells and screams of a most frustrated Chief Inspector. Laughter ringing from the skies as a white winged glider soared past the gibbous moon and into the darkness. A scene all too familiar to those involved.

On the ground, Nakamori Ginzo finally allowed his men to pull him away to his car. Far, very far away, the Kaitou Kid landed on a remote rooftop with a feeling of satisfaction. Raising the Hawk's Eye to his own, he gazed at the gem, the gleaming blue stone darkened to purest black in the moonlight.

"Somehow," he said softly, "I just don't think you're the one. Pity. But you're a lovely piece of work, none the less." He grinned, slipping the gem into a pocket. "Time for beddie bye, for all thieves and students with exams tomorrow," he added, opening the door behind him to step onto the landing.

Only it wasn't there.

oOo

_Ruby eyes gaze through that window with bright amusement. Such a clever child. Very much the one he could use. Not Eike for this - best to leave him out until he was needed. No need to risk all that they had worked for. For one thing, Eike's skills as a thief were practically non-existent. For another, a 6.5' tall gaijin would stand out in Japan. _Oh, yes, and let's not forget that I really can't keep expecting him to resolve my problems for me, even if this one affects him too. _Perfectly carved lips curve into tiny sad smile. _Besides, I can't think of anyone better suited to this particular task, all times considered.

oOo

He stared. Blinked. Stared again. Reached behind himself for the door handle, intending to back out fast. There was nothing but wood, smooth, exquisitely polished, _thick_ wood behind him. Ahead was a room. _If you could call it that much,_ he thought. A single square area, a huge marble bust lying broken on the wooden floor. Furniture by Escher or Dali. Ambience by Hammer. "Er Hello. I think I've stumbled on the wrong house. Excuse me, I'll just be going."

"When you just arrived, Kaitou Kid? Why be in such a hurry to leave?" The voice spoke from above him. It was strange, that voice, soft - not quite male, not quite female - echoing slightly, as if it weren't - quite - speaking alone.

The Kid peered around, scanning the darkness and fully expecting Akako to come sauntering up to him. Nothing, no sign of movement. He did get a view of the door. It was huge, carved with human figures going about their mundane affairs, stone pillars to the side holding up a mantel of the same stone. A tree branch twined around the edges, its leaves gleaming a deep, healthy, green, with tiny red flowers blooming - the only true color in the entire room. He did his best not to react to the fact that the door was inset in no wall, that it stood, unsupported, at the edge of the 'room' in which he stood. He felt like he was standing atop a great height. So great, in fact, that even he - not even remotely acrophobic - felt unnerved.

The Kid paused for a long moment, thinking fast. "Much as I appreciate the invitation, I do have places to go and people to be," he said after a moment. "I don't suppose we could cut to the chase and discuss what you want from me? And while I realize you may not care to do so, I'd appreciate your showing yourself."

"Occasionally," the voice said from behind him, in tones of mild amusement, "you humans manage to surprise me." The Kid turned, found himself facing a slender, small, man dressed in soft silky black, a gold ear cuff around his left ear. He cocked his head, arms crossed over his slender chest in an amused gesture. Ruby eyes set in a pale face gazed at him inquiringly. "Very well. If that is your preference. It appears to make things simpler in the long run."

The Kid blinked at the fragile man. _Like a china doll,_ he thought. _This is just getting weirder by the minute._ "So?"

"So, if you will observe?" The stranger turned and pointed at a window that the Kid hadn't noticed before. The images it showed seemed to flow and shift randomly. At that moment it was displaying a tall blonde man working at a desk. "Now, now, I don't need that at the moment," the stranger said reprovingly and the image shifted obligingly to show a museum case. "This." There was a book inside it. A small, leather bound, book, open to its middle with paragraph after paragraph of neatly written German.

"I recognize the case style. Tokyo University Library." The stranger's nod encouraged the Kid. "There's just one thing I should warn you. I don't usually do commissions."

Ruby eyes gazed at the Kid for a long moment. "Hmmm. Not ever?" There was a knowing look to the tilt of his head, the quirk of his lips.

"Hardly ever... I mean, not without a good, a _very_ good, reason." The Kid gazed back levelly at the stranger, though a part of him was shaking. This wasn't your run-of-the-mill client. This - person - had powers that made Akako look like a hedge-witch. "I generally return the things I steal," he added. "Which makes taking commissions difficult."

Still those ruby eyes gazed at him. It was strange, he ought to be more frightened. This place wasn't anything he'd had experience with and even his natural bravado shouldn't have been enough to deal with this bit of oddity. "Perhaps the knowledge that the book in question contains information that your enemies would find almost as useful as the Pandora Gem itself, would persuade you?" the stranger said finally.

The Kid raised a brow. "Pandora Gem? Am I supposed to know about something like that?" Inwardly he cursed. Of all the levers the stranger could have found, that was the exactly right one. "If I could go now?"

The stranger nodded, bowing slightly. "Of course." He waved his hand and the door cracked open - onto the Kid's own bedroom. "I thank you for your time."

The Kid stepped towards the door. "Hey. Just in case I change my mind. How do I reach you?"

A smile, blithely sweet, if not positively smug crossed the pale man's face, "Oh. Don't worry. I'll be keeping an eye on your progress." The smile broadened, "And... if you need me, simply call for Homunculus, and I _may_ come."

oOo

_He watches the boy go. Much like his father. Almost too much so. Secrets within secrets, wrapped in an enigma that probably held a large squib that would explode in one's face if one wasn't careful. _And care is needed. It's too bad I had to mention that foolishness about the Pandora Gem._ He would regret it more if it hadn't been required - the only bait that will move the Kaitou Kid in the right direction. He glances at the window, watching the flow with a worried eye. Somehow he has to stave off disaster without creating a new tangled mess to replace the old. _I am so not going to enjoy the next few days.

* * *

"Young man, would you mind paying attention?" Kaito looked up at the speaker, a long-suffering substitute teacher named Kataichi, and blinked away confusion as he picked himself up off the floor. "Now then, shall we continue our discussion of the history of chemistry?" A thin wisp of a man, he'd spent much of the last few days trying to control Kaito, with limited success, more owing to Kaito's ill-luck than his skill. _I would have sworn that chair could hold my weight, too. _

Still feeling a bit stunned from his last 'exercise', and part of his mind distracted by what had happened the night before, Kaito shrugged. "Er, yeah. Sorry."

Kataichi-sensei glared at Kaito for a long moment, then turned back to the chalkboard. As he did, Aoko poked Kaito in the ribs. "You okay?" she hissed into his ear once their teacher was busy.

Realizing that his rather meek response had been seriously out of character, Kaito managed a grin and a nod. "Had a touch of food poisoning last night. Blew chunks out of both ends." He was gratified by the glare Aoko gave him. "Oops. Sorry. Too much information?"

"SHUT UP!" Their teacher growled and Kaito easily parried the eraser the man threw at him. _You'd think he'd have given up on that by now,_ the young rogue thought. _Oops. Damn, didn't expect that ricochet._ Things just kept going wrong around here and he wondered if his famed luck were trying to run out. _That's just silly. I'm off my feed because of last night's weirdness, that's all._ Without bothering to gloat over the way the eraser had still managed to bonk Kaito on the head, Kataichi-sensei returned to his lecture. "Now then. Just as astronomy has its roots in astrology, chemistry's roots are those of superstition and ignorance. Who can tell me what psuedo-science preceded chemistry?"

Akako raised her hand, smiling with a sweet, pitying, superiority. "Alchemy is the father of modern chemistry," she answered, when their teacher pointed at her. Implicit in her tone was a sense that she considered chemistry a bastard child at best. Somehow, though, Kataichi-sensei managed to ignore the suggestion.

"Quite correct, Akako. Can anyone tell me what the purpose of alchemy was?" Somehow, and in much the same way as the witch, Kataichi-sensei managed to make his disdain for that purpose, whatever it had been, clear.

This time it was Hakuba who answered. "Alchemy's purpose was three-fold. The creation of gold, of course, was the most commonly known. Though I would suspect that it was a search more driven by the alchemists' sponsors than the alchemists themselves."

"Very good, Hakuba. Continue."

"The other purposes were the creation of an artificial life and immortality." Hakuba shrugged. "In a way, I'd say scientists are still trying to achieve most of those goals."

Kataichi-sensei nodded. "Quite right, Hakuba. The creation of gold has been proved possible, though prohibitively expensive, using a nuclear accelerator. Artificial intelligence, in the form of computers and robotics have taken the place of the quest for homunculi and medical science is increasing the human life-span every year." He smiled, expression superior.

Kaito nearly sat up straight, but forced himself not to react. _Homunculi? That guy I met last night He said he was called Homunculus Coincidence?_ He found himself listening to the lecture more intently.

"The alchemical quests were, of course, mostly a mishmash of superstitions and little understood science. Nevertheless, they paved the way for the scientists of today." Kataichi-sensei started writing titles on the blackboard. "These are some books that describe the history of alchemy. I would like a five page report from each of you, discussing some aspect of the alchemical quest and how it relates to science of today, due on Friday. Oh yes, and there will be a small test on the subject tomorrow."

As he finished writing, he turned and looked at the class. "Most of these books are in the library. However, you may also wish to pay a visit to Tokyo University Library's temporary display. I believe there's an exhibit there related to the subject of the Philosopher's Stone."

oOo

There now. The clues have been planted._ If Kuroba Kaito was half the thief his father had been, he would be following up fairly quickly. _And if he isn't at least his father's equal, I don't know my Kaitou Kids._ A sour smile crosses his face as he turns his attention on the witch. That one will have to be watched. Her interference is an unavoidable certainty, but it must be minimized. Not that that will prevent the aggravation about to occur._

* * *

Kaito strolled through the library's exhibit, yawning and ignoring Aoko's excited commentary as she examined a gold plaque with elaborately carved images on it. Most of the collection had belonged to an old Japanese who'd lived in Germany for some years before coming home to die. Having no family, he'd left the entirety to the University. It had consisted mostly of books, though there'd been a carved statue of the Wyrm Ourobourous, some jewelry, none particularly valuable, as far as Kaito could tell, and a few alchemical devices that reminded him of Akako somehow. Especially that cauldron.

_Speaking of whom_ Kaito noted his witchy nemesis and schoolmate examining a peculiar device at the center of the room beside Aoko. A tall glass cylinder sitting atop what looked like a warming plate, a metal lid covering it.

"What's that thing for?" Aoko asked, echoing his curiosity as he came over to join the two girls.

"A birthing chamber," Akako answered, absently. "It's used to create homunculi."

Kaito had to wonder if anyone else noted the witch's use of the present tense. "So, do _you_ make 'em?" he whispered to her, grinning.

"Occasionally. Nothing on this scale," Akako said, smiling back at him with a cool, mocking expression. "Whomever this Wolfgang Wagner was, he was nothing if not ambitious. A homunculus of such size would require immense power to achieve. I have to wonder how successful he was."

_So do I,_ Kaito thought, remembering the pale features of the being who'd drawn him into that strange place the night before. Somehow he suspected what this 'birthing chamber' had been used for. He shrugged, though. "Well, we're not knee deep in homunculi so I guess not very," he answered and wandered away. Time to check out that book.

It was, of course, the centerpiece of the collection. Bound in black leather, it lay open at a diagram of a peculiar pattern. A circle, containing a square, containing a triangle. On the other page was something that looked like a tree, _Or that symbol from Slayers,_ Kaito grinned to himself. _Which one's Vorfeed?_ He read the card beside the book.

"This book, believed to have belonged to Hugo Wagner, the son and successor of the alchemist who first owned this collection, contains a number of recipes for the family's practice. Many of the chemical processes associated with the recipes are still seen in use today, most particularly the antidote to sea hare poisoning.

"Among the recipes, however, are peculiar diagrams, such as the ones shown on these pages. Many of the diagrams are associated with alchemical practices. Others, such as the Tree of Life found on the right page, is a symbol found in the Kabbala, an occult tradition associated with the Hebrew culture. Still others - such as the one on the cover - seem to have significance only to the author of the book."

Noticing a stack of flyers beside the case, Kaito leafed through them. Boring stuff about the history of alchemy. The kind of thing Kataichi-sensei was probably wanting, though, and he wondered if the substitute would notice if he simply copied the text verbatim. _No. Been there, tried that. That trick never works._ As he leafed through the thing, though, he paused, blinking at a picture at the bottom of the page. A red stone, a long octagonal crystal, pointed at both ends and labeled "The Philosopher's Stone?"

oOo

_He watches the boy through the window and is unsurprised when Kaito hurries out to find a private place on the roof of the building. "Homunculus? Can you hear me?" _

_"Indeed. Should I take it that you've changed your mind, then?" he replies, voice coming to Kaito from thin air. _

_"Let's just say I'm intrigued." Kaito's eyes stare around, blue as another pair of eyes and just as bright with intelligence. "And a little miffed. I don't like being led around. Can you get more obvious if you try?" _

_A chuckle escapes his lips. "Your pardon, child. I'm accustomed to dealing with someone who needed more hints than you." Eike isn't exactly stupid, nor even slow on the uptake. It's just that Kaito is that much more bright. Then too, Kaito isn't getting killed every hour on the hour, something that would throw anyone's game off. _And we won't even comment on the fact that I was being less than helpful, now will we?

_"Is the Philosopher's Stone the same thing as the Pandora's gem?" The question is direct and pretty well expected. _

_He hesitates only a moment. "Now, that would be too much coincidence, wouldn't it? Suffice it to say that your enemies desire it. And that book is a key." _

_"All right. I'll get it, then. But no guarantees what I do with it when I have it." _

_"As I expected, young thief. As I expected."_

* * *

Kaito considered his plans. The first thing to do would be to case the library. To determine its weak points and to see how hard it would be to remove the book. Even though this wasn't a true Kaitou job he still had his professional pride. He never went for something without much preparation, often to the point that he could have stolen the object in question much earlier than his announced date.

There was the problem of what he was going to do with the book, once he had it. This Homunculus fellow obviously wanted it. _And is it a good idea to give it to him?_ he wondered. _That guy's no more trustworthy than Akako, and more potential trouble, given what he can do._

First things first. Get the book. Find out what was in it _Man. The thing's in German! How the hell am I supposed to read it?_ He decided to climb that fence when he came to it. Getting into the library would be cake. He'd robbed it before and had automatically checked the changed defenses during his afternoon visit. So, drop in, take a look at it, then decide exactly how the performance should go off.

A little part of him wondered why he felt this was so important. He was always impetuous, of course, but he usually took more time to think out a job. Some instinct seemed to be demanding he act, something pulling him towards that book and its would-be possessor with all the force of a magnet tugging at an iron filing. _And why does it feel so much like Fate?_

oOo

_He watches the boy entering the library with sardonic eye. The flow of time converges here, forces him into play in a way that - had it been his choice - he would have avoided like the plague. His ruby eyes narrow only slightly as they note the other player in this game. The witch. She is waiting in the shadows, using her magics to hide her in the same way the boy uses his skill. _

_When Kaito, dressed in a dark suit instead of his usual whites, slides open the case and removes the book, she steps forward. "I'll take that, Kaitou Kid." _

_He sighs, drawing himself together for the next move. _Ladies and Gentlemen It's show time.

oOo

He turned, only slightly surprised at Akako's presence. If anything, he would have been more surprised at her failure to interfere. "Hello, witch," he said, smiling under his dark mask. "Interested in making bigger and better homunculi?"

"Or other powers," she agreed, holding out her hand. "Suffice it to say I want that book."

He looked at it. Closed, the cover had a pattern embossed on it with silver ink. A peculiar pentagram, like nothing he'd ever seen before, not even in Akako's spells. Five right triangles interlocking to form a pentagon, with increasingly smaller versions of itself inside each figure. "This old thing? Oh, I know. You need the cure for sea hare poisoning. I told you, you should be more careful with your experiments"

Akako's dark eyes flared angrily and she stepped forward, fingers twisting as she prepared a spell.

"I think not." The voice was Homunculus' and both teenagers turned to see the slender figure form out of a peculiar, bubbling, fire. "The book contains nothing of use to you, little witch. I would tell you to stop now, but I already know it's useless." He was dressed in black silk, an outfit that looked like something out of the Arabian nights, with full pants and a sash hanging down his back.

Boots clicking lightly on the wooden floor, the slender figure moved to a position not far from the Kid and Akako. His smile was peculiar, the look of one about to do something he did _not_ want to do. "Well? Do you think you'd like to back off now?"

"You are" Akako's eyes narrowed. "I have heard rumors. A creature with power over time itself."

Homunculus bowed ever so slightly. "My reputation precedes me, I see." He glanced over at the Kid, a peculiar, flinching, gaze, and Kaito realized that his eyes were carefully avoiding looking directly at the book. "If you know that much, little witch, you know that I am not one you ought to cross lightly."

"I do nothing 'lightly'," Akako answered grimly. "If _you_ want that book then its value must be beyond measure." She began moving her hands, preparing a spell, and the Kid glanced at Homunculus, saw mere amusement in his expression. Kaito couldn't _see_ what was flowing around her hands, but it was clear she meant to attack.

oOo

_He knows what is to happen, but not exactly how. Seeing her magic, he wonders that it could ever manage anything of the sort. The answer comes, though, in her choice of target. Not him. Not Kaito. The book. The spell, formed by her dark arts, reflected in the sigil that marks Hugo's book and focused by it, is a binding spell. He feels the power of the symbol lashing out at him and moves. _

_He isn't fast enough. Had he truly the will to escape, perhaps he could have, but knowing what he knows, knowing what has to be, he is forced to accept this as part of his destiny. Time can be changed, yes, but it much prefers not to be. It can be quite vicious to those who try. _

_The power strikes him, even as it flares around the book and - perforce - the boy holding it. He screams, hearing the boy cry out at the same time. The pain is incredible, no better for knowing what is happening. He grabs at his power, knowing they cannot stay here, and twists._

oOo

The swirling confusion finally faded to a very hard reality. "Oh man, am I dead," he muttered and felt an odd amusement at the comment. Confused, with images flowing through his thoughts that weren't - he was absolutely certain - his own, he sat up and looked around, forcing himself to concentrate on the here and now. _Oh, indeed. Whatever that here and now is, let us by all means concentrate on it. _

It was a library, yes, but not one he'd ever seen before. Or was it? Something about the way it was laid out made him think it was the same room. Yet where was the display case he'd been standing near? Where were all the other alchemical paraphernalia that had filled the room? Where, for that matter, was Akako? _And why the hell is it broad daylight? Other than the fact that the sun is out, you mean?_

"Young man? Young man, are you all right?"

Kaito quickly got to his feet, pulling the mask down and away from his face. Better to be an innocent school kid lost in the wrong part of the building than to look like a thief. He put a hand to his face as he rose to his feet, coughing. _Oh yes, much better than a mask. _

The speaker was an older man, a librarian type, almost stereotypically so. Lemon sour features that might, once, have been handsome and now were just tired. Kaito shrugged. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I slipped."

"So I heard. What are you doing here?"

"Er I got lost. Sorry." _Lost. Now there's an almost adequate description of the circumstances. _

"Well, these rooms are part of our private collection, young man. So if you're all right, I suggest you leave. Now." The man stalked over to the doorway and held it open. Kaito wasn't in the mood to argue, and had no reason to stay either. He had to figure out where he was and what had happened.

A little searching found a public restroom and Kaito hurried through it. His head still felt so fuzzy. As if there were two sets of thoughts running in it. The first, his own, a confused recognition that something more than ordinarily weird had happened. The second a sardonic running commentary that, strangely, had more than a flavor of Homunculus' conversational style. He splashed water in his face and lifted his eyes.

They were glowing bright red.

To Be Continued...


	3. Consequences Entangled

**_PHANTOM SHADOWS_**  
Chapter 2: Consequences Entangled - In which Kaito is the wild card  
A KaitouKid/Shadow of Destiny Crossover  
By   
Deborah J. Brown.

Kaitou Kid is Copyright Aoyama Gosho. Shadow of Destiny and all concepts relating to it is Copyright Konami.

* * *

_He watches through Kaito's eyes with a sardonic air. The boy's shock _almost_ makes up for the headache they're sharing with each other. "WHAT THE HELL?" _

Talking to yourself is often a sign of madness. May I suggest you simply think?

_There's a moment of dead silence. Then Kaito reaches up and slaps himself. _

Would you MIND? This isn't exactly a comfortable state of affairs for me, either. I'd appreciate it if you didn't make it any worse._ The boy is off-balance, angry and confused, a mental state his uninvited guest shares. Well, not the confusion. He knew this was going to happen, after all. Still, the sooner the boy gets his bright little mind in gear and starts thinking the better. Homunculus isn't used to physical sensation - his true body isn't built to take much - and he is finding that he dislikes the feeling intensely. Particularly when Kaito pinches himself._

oOo

:_OUCH. Stop that this instant, young man._:

Kaito stared into the mirror, seeing the changes in his face. Paler than before, his hair falling loose and silky. The shape had changed, become more doll-like and the eyes burned with inner fire. He took several deep breaths. :_Yes. That's it. Calm down. Think._:

:_Akako's spell?_:

:_Indeed._: The voice in his head was more clearly Homunculus' now and he was having less trouble separating it from his own thoughts. :_I can't claim to be surprised. I knew this would happen. Unfortunately._:

Kaito took another breath. :_Get. out. of. my. head._:

:_I can't. Or, rather, I could, but there is something we must do together. Believe me, this isn't something I want either._: The voice in his mind was dry and irritable. :_I have spent centuries - no, millennia - in a body that has little to recommend it. Yours has a great deal more strength and skill and yet_: There was a faint, tired, tone to the voice. :_I find I do not care to be trapped in it, none the less. How do you humans _stand_ it?_:

Startled at the almost plaintive admission from someone Kaito had read as being very careful not to show any weakness whatsoever, the young thief went silent. His thoughts were churning but in a very rapid way that was forming a clear pattern. :_When are we?_: he asked at last, turning to leave the restroom.

:_Very good._: Homunculus' mental voice congratulated dryly. :_The precise date isn't entirely clear to me, I'm afraid. I don't really pay that much attention to the calendar. However, I believe you humans regard this year as 1998._:

Kaito choked momentarily. 1998. He'd been a kid then. A snot-nosed kid who knew nothing of theft, nothing of hurt. He ignored the amusement he sensed from Homunculus, who no doubt still considered him a kid, and thought, _My father. My father is still alive! I have to warn him!_ He set off at a dead run.

oOo

_The feel of time eating away at his flesh is sweet agony. Gravity, dragging at his body, sensations like nothing he has ever felt before. He is as off balance as he was that first time he'd found himself in a time he'd never seen, that long ago day when Eike had finally untangled the knot that had chained himself and all the others to a never ending sequence of death and restarts. _

_Air burns in his lungs and he is suddenly very glad not to be the one in charge of this body. He would have been incapacitated, unable to tell what was perfectly normal and what was truly dangerous. _Like this_ He forces his reaction to the boy's movements down, he cannot afford to confuse him. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop until there are none left to race over, only a vast height to fall through. _Eeep.

oOo

Kaito did his best to ignore the scared little sound his unwanted guest made in his head. This trick took too much concentration. Grabbing the cord of his hang-glider he pulled and was rewarded with the sound of its wings unfolding. A second later the wind caught him up and carried him high.

"You're scared!" he noted to the voice inside his head, speaking aloud out of habit. _At least we're where I can't be heard._

:_I am _not_ scared,_: Homunculus answered with offended dignity. :_I am merely appropriately terrified._: His tone was tense. :_I have no such experiences in my life to permit me to deal with your skills._:

It occurred to Kaito that his guest had made an unusual confession. It was only the situation, the sense of being entirely out of control that left Homunculus so far off balance as to be unable to hide his fears. :_That and the fact that I'm entirely unaccustomed to all the adrenaline that's pouring through _your_ system._:

"Just be glad Akako didn't end up here too, or she'd be doing things to my hormones." Kaito grinned tightly. He might not love the witch but she was a physically attractive girl who often wore far too little for his own comfort.

A small, nervous, chuckle touched Kaito's thoughts. :_Oh, believe me. I am._: A sudden flash of memory, the blonde man Kaito had seen in that window earlier. He was walking with a pretty blonde woman, looking more than a trifle addlepated. His guest's wry amusement was a dry taste in Kaito's mind and the young thief decided he really didn't need, or want, to know more. :_It's an adult thing. I have a feeling you won't want to understand for a while._: Not said was the fact that Homunculus didn't really comprehend it, either. _Though how I know that isn't really clear. _

Realizing that he was allowing himself to be distracted, Kaito focused on shifting his flight in the direction of his house. "I don't suppose you can tell me what's going on?"

:_The entire story takes up millennia of the same centuries,_: Homunculus answered. :_Nor is all of it important to our current predicament. Perhaps the best I can say is that you follow in your father's footsteps in more ways than one._:

oOo

_ The trouble with the entire situation is that what repaired Time elsewhere will not work here. He is trapped by the pattern, forced to follow the flow because to do anything else is to recreate other, older, paths. _Paths I can't take again. Paths I can't _bear_ again._ The involvement of the first thief had been unexpected, a problem that nearly set everything off again, that nearly ruined a carefully balanced system. Only a hurried repair had staved off disaster. And a hurried repair wasn't good enough. _

My own fault, I think. I was too sure things were all right. I didn't pay attention to what was happening outside. _It should have been obvious that someone would notice what was happening. Someone with enough experience in such things to realize what a prize they could win. Someone who would send their own agent in to capture a prize worth far more than all the precious gems in the world._

oOo

Kaito landed, undoing the straps to his glider and rushing for the door. In the back of his thoughts he could feel his 'guest', thinking things that he couldn't really hear, just get the feelings behind those thoughts. Whatever it was, it was something that Homunculus couldn't bear to think about. He was getting small momentary visions of a raging torrent spinning out of control, a whirlpool that had nearly destroyed what it had carried along.

It seemed, however, that Homunculus was disinclined to explain. _Besides, I have to get to my father. Warn him._ As he flung open the front door, Kaito came to a dead halt staring at the carnage. _Blood. Too much blood._ He didn't remember something like this. His father had died elsewhere, surely. Had fallen to his enemies away from home.

There was a man kneeling in the middle of the carnage, a man Kaito knew. The same rough unkempt hair as his own, the same general build. Kuroba Toshi, his white outfit soaked in rapidly darkening red, his body bent over two slumped forms. The scent of gunpowder filled the air, the stink of blood, the sound of tears.

"BASTARDS!" Kuroba Toshi raised his face to the ceiling. "BASTARDS!"

_I don't understand. How? They didn't kill mother and me. They killed Father._ Kaito stared, shaking his head, confused and almost too bewildered to think at all.

:_Time is not a single path. There are many streams and this is what would have been, had your father not sacrificed himself._: Homunculus' tone in his head held little emotion, sending a deep wave of anger through Kaito. It satisfied Kaito deeply when he felt that other presence flinch away. :_Don't Please._:

Kuroba Toshi turned and his eyes widened. "You! You again!" He rushed at Kaito, fist clenched, obviously ready to beat Kaito to a pulp.

oOo

_Still stunned by the force of the emotions raging through him, it is only instinct that permits him to fade his shared body a step out of time. It's not enough that they disappear entirely but Kuroba Toshi's fist flails through empty space and the man sprawls. _

_The boy is stunned at his father's reaction. Too stunned to speak or move on his own, Homunculus hurriedly takes over, locking the boy's control of their shared body momentarily. "I did warn you," he says quietly. "Some things are better left undone." _

_Kuroba Toshi stares, "You've changed." _

_"It's temporary." At least Homunculus hopes it is. "But never mind." He looks at the mess and feels the boy's nausea as his own. "For what little it is worth, this was not my desire." In the depths of their mind he can feel his companion in misery struggling to break free and he has to work incredibly hard to keep the boy from interfering._

oOo

Kaito raged, trapped within the depths of a mind that held entirely too much knowledge, entirely too much power and entirely too much pain. The last almost surprised him out of his anger but he was too caught up in the fury of the moment to really examine it. :_LET ME GO!_:

:_Not now, boy. This is simply not the time._: Homunculus' voice in their thoughts, then his voice spoke aloud again. "I am sorry."

Kaito's father glared at him, though grief and sorrow seemed to have overcome even his momentary rage. "Sorry? SORRY? Have you any idea what it is to lose everything that's precious to you?"

Homunculus' words in Kaito's mouth were soft and tired. "Yes. You took it."

Both father and son were silenced by the strange creature's tone and his words. Within their shared body, Kaito felt a surge of memories. A constantly shifting river, twisted and tangled into a whirlpool of agony, time replayed until all within the knot were thoroughly sick of the whole thing. It left Kaito too stunned to fight as, at last, Kuroba Toshi stammered. "The Pandora gem? It's just a stone. You should have guarded it better if you valued it!" A Kaitou's purpose, to force those with things they valued to protect their possession. "I had no choice, anyway! My family's life for the stone!" He broke off, staring down at the bodies with an expression of despair.

Homunculus eyed the man, forcing Kaito to watch him as well. "Indeed. And we see how much of a choice that was, now don't we?" Kaito watched the ache in his father's eyes and felt it as his own, even as Homunculus continued. "You cannot say I didn't warn you, Kuroba Toshi"

As Kuroba Toshi stared, Kaito noticed another shimmering in the air behind his father. Homunculus sighed, cocking his head as the newcomer stepped forward, body forming out of thin air, speaking quietly. "Do you see now what?" The voice was Homunculus' as Kaito had first heard it, echoing softly. Now he could feel the way time shifted around the creature, could see his existence as something vast and powerful. Eternal and serene, a single existence in infinity, both shaped by time and shaping it.

:_Indeed,_: the Homunculus in Kaito's head murmured. :_That is what I am. What you partake of at this moment. Now, hush, while I try to salvage something from this disaster._: He moved their body forward to stand closer to his true Self and Kaito sensed vast amusement at his other Self's shock.

"This is different," the 'real' Homunculus said quietly. "Yet" His eyes seemed to glaze over and Kaito could see him looking forward into his future Self. "Ahhh. I see. How amusing."

"I am not finding it so." Homunculus/Kaito glanced at Kuroba. "But don't concern yourself. My control of time isn't complete - the price of this binding - but you know as well as I do what has to be done."

Ruby eyes met Kaito's. "Mmmm. Well, it isn't yet disastrous for us. I'm not entirely sure why you thought it necessary to place ourselves in so much danger." A small hand gestured at Kuroba Toshi. "Vengeance alone would drive him to assist me."

Kaito felt his Homunculus' eyes roll and a deep sigh escaped their lips. "Would you care to explain exactly how all of this came about to Eike? I assure you, it won't be a pleasant exercise. I know."

Rather to Kaito's surprise, the Homunculus standing in front of them flinched ever so slightly. "That has nothing to do with this."

"Who the hell is EIKE?" Kaito's father exclaimed angrily.

Two pairs of eyes rolled. Two pairs of arms crossed in a gesture of aggravating patience and two heads cocked themselves to exactly the same angle. "We're not going to get anywhere at this rate." Homunculus murmured. Then he looked at Kaito. "I could, of course, take the time to examine the pathway leading to your presence and prevent it. However, I must trust in myself. You will shift the line for us?"

Kaito found himself nodding. "I will try. Enlightened self-interest, as Eike so elegantly puts it, ensures that I'm unlikely to do anything to risk our continued existence."

"Then I shall leave the next step to you. I'm sure you know how to contact me if you require my assistance."

"I already do," Kaito's Homunculus answered. "As I said, my control on time isn't complete. I'll need a digipad, fully equipped."

"Done. It will be waiting at the library. I trust you can get that far?" As his other Self nodded, Homunculus disappeared.

Turning back to the still enraged Kuroba Toshi, Kaito's Homunculus sighed. "A picture, I believe, is worth a thousand words. Come, and hurry. Those who slew your family will be coming for you next."

oOo

_Once again to the library, to the place where everything begins - at least for this particular cycle. It requires Kaito's cooperation, however, since Homunculus' powers are limited by the binding.:_ It will only confuse the issue, if you try and tell him who you are. It is also entirely possible that he won't believe you - considering what we have just left._: Kaito is an intelligent boy, he concedes the point, at least for the moment. _

But I want explanations,_: Kaito tells him. :_Satisfactory ones._: His temper is near its breaking point. Games would be unwise, for all that the boy is ordinarily a creature of mischief and chaos. In this, however, he is entirely serious and completely focused._

oOo

"I just came from here," Kuroba Toshi muttered under his breath as the two made their way through the halls of the University Library. "The only things there, other than the gem, were books and old equipment." Kaito noted the synchronicity but wasn't surprised by it. Everything began with that particular collection. He had a feeling everything would end with it as well.

Kaito's 'guest' nodded. "And now something else," he agreed, stepping past guards who were more unmoving than usual. "Hurry. I cannot hold time long for us and we must reach the digipad soon." The phrase brought a vision to Kaito's mind, a flat boxy shape with a set of buttons on it. The sense that the thing was rather more complex than a mere piece of technology, that its shape was merely to provide a focus for more limited minds.

Glancing sideways at his father, Kaito felt a terrible longing to reach around, to wrap his arms around the taller man and just hold on forever. His father looked so awful, so shattered by what had happened. _I had mother. I didn't see his dead body. All he has are a pair of ripped up corpses._ It was beginning to hit him what was going to happen, beginning to become clear where all this was headed. _NO!_

:_Wait, Kaito. There are things you _must_ see. Things you must understand._: The attempt to soothe was a failure and Kaito flailed wildly inside his head, struggling to break free, to warn his father. :_And will you sacrifice your mother's life for his? That is the price, child. One parent or the other. Never both. Never both._: That gave Kaito a moment's pause and Homunculus pressed the point, showing him that horrible scene once more. :_Is that what you want?_:

Whining was a child thing but Kaito had never felt so much like a child. :_I want both my parents. I want a happy life. I want..._:

:_You are not the only one._: The pain in Homunculus' mental tone was enough to silence Kaito for the moment.

They stepped into a storage room and Homunculus guided Kaito's body to a cabinet. "If you would unlock this?" He gestured and stepped away as Kuroba gave him a sour look then started picking the lock. For a moment Kaito was charmed by the sight. He was good, had learned to be better, but to watch his father at work - even on something so prosaic as a simple padlock - was an education. Every movement as delicate and efficient as a watchmaker's or a jeweler's. Then the door swung open and Kuroba stepped out of the way, bowing sardonically at Homunculus. "As you command."

Kaito's hands picked out the metallic box that Kaito had visualized earlier. His fingers moved delicately over the surface, picking out symbols. Then he pushed a button and the world turned inside out.

oOo

_Time never truly stops. Never truly ends. Yet it is possible to move outside of it, to gaze upon it, and upon the great river bed that contains all reality. From this place, floating high, it is as if they fly over a vast plain marked with braided strands of clear water. Beside him, Kuroba cries out, startled, expecting to fall without his glider. Inside himself, Kaito manages to contain his own reaction. "What the hell is this?" Kuroba demands. _

_"You wish to see. You wish to understand. This is the only way I can show you." Homunculus wonders, what would have happened if he'd just shown someone this truth before, when he and the Wagners were all entrapped in that endless parade of deaths and re-creations? Would anyone have listened? _It wouldn't have happened, though. I wasn't the sort to try._ This time, though, he would have to depend on these humans' sense, have to find a way to solve their mutual problem with the least pain. _

_ It helps that this time he is not forced to do so. That this time he has a choice. He still bears the internal scars of that other time, of the endless circling, but he has learned from those scars. Humans will do much to protect those they love. Will hurt others horribly in their efforts. If he is to survive this, if he is to repair this, he must not allow things to go that far, no matter how irritating humans can be. _

_That and Eike really would be out of sorts with him if he didn't._

oOo

The patterns below Kaito made a strange sense. "Time itself, Phantom Thief. Is she not a beautiful mistress?" Homunculus' voice was hushed, held the first real respect Kaito had ever heard from it. "I should warn you, though, she goes her own way. Chooses her own path. And if you attempt to change her course, you may be shattered in the process." Kaito found himself pacing, hands moving in delicate gestures. "Tell me, Kuroba Toshi. How much will you sacrifice, to remake your world? What will you do, to save your family?"

Kaito wanted to scream at his father, to demand that Homunculus shut up. He couldn't stop Kuroba from shouting, "ANYTHING!"

"Oh, really? How many will you sacrifice? How many will you destroy? A child? A family? A whole town? A world?" Homunculus' voice was soft, distant, and from inside Kaito he could feel the creature's sadness and anger. Could feel the frustration. "Everything?"

"Don't be a fool. Of course not." Kuroba spun in mid-air, glaring at Homunculus. "I'd sacrifice myself."

"...no..." Somehow Kaito's word escaped his lips, then Homunculus sighed. "I am of two minds this day," he murmured. "I cannot save you all - not as things stand. It is, quite simply, beyond my skills." He gestured down at the vast river, drew them closer. "That," he murmured. "Do you see it?"

Laying within the blackness was a ruby serpent, coiled in upon itself, tangled up in an intricate knot that drew one stream of time along itself. "Undo that knot and your family will not die. Undo it, though, and lives you do not know will be destroyed. Undo it - as those who would have that gem would do - and everything unravels. There is simply not enough of me to repeat what was done there. Even this much has required I submit to a transformation that I would much prefer to avoid."

Kuroba shook his head. "I don't understand."

Homunculus shook his head. "I think you do. You are not a fool. You understand paradox when it stares you in the face." Kaito found himself pointing down. "The future cannot change its path in the past. Only reach back and ensure itself." There were marks upon the plain, signs of something flailing wildly, struggling against the flow and another of Homunculus' memories flickered through his mind. _Fighting, twisting back and forth. Destroying and being destroyed, until the only hope is that everything would shatter and end entirely. Until oblivion would be a blessing._ He felt Homunculus acknowledge his comprehension. :_Only one thing saved us. Only one thing brought peace to the tangle, created a path where all could rest satisfied. A state of grace, unexpected and undeserved. I cannot risk that state without destroying everything that has gone before._:

Kaito's father was gazing down at the river. "What is that?" He pointed and Kaito saw the serpent had split, one head following a broad stream, the other a fragile rivulet that twisted back upon itself. "Another path?"

"Bingo." Homunculus started moving again, as if unable to remain still anymore, pacing back and forth in mid-air. "I am already pushing myself to my limits, Phantom Thief. I cannot change your timeline. I cannot save _your _family. But I can choose a different pathway. I can hope to make it stable, to turn your timeline to the rivulet and the rivulet to the stream. If I do, the split will erode away, leaving only the tracks that I may use to show the danger of that path."

:_Have you already?_: Kaito couldn't help asking and felt Homunculus' amusement. :_You wouldn't tell me, if you have, would you?_: He wanted his father to live. He wanted to protect his parent, to make everything okay for everyone. _And I can't see any way to do it, either._ He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to throw a tantrum that would shatter everything. He couldn't.

_A Phantom Thief must master his emotions,_ Kaito reminded himself. _Must control anger, pain, sorrow. Behind the mask, we may weep, but we must not be slave to what we feel._ Jiichan's words came back to him, reminding him of the hardest lesson he'd had to learn.

oOo

_The emotions roiling through his shared body are agony. The boy is trying to control them, but Homunculus is unaccustomed to a true physical form, rather than the hollow shell that contains his true Self. Were this body not essentially human, he would shatter under such strain. At last, though, he turns to face the boy's father, who is has been strangely silent throughout these long minutes. _

_"What is wrong with you?" _

_Homunculus chuckles, though it is a hollow, fragile, sound - nothing like his usual amused chuckles. Entirely without the superiority that he has often felt. "As I have said, I am of two minds today." He shrugs. "Never mind that, Kuroba Toshi. Tell me, what would you have me do? How much do I sacrifice? Whom do I sacrifice?"_

oOo

It was no surprise that his father answered, "Me. Just me." A solid knot of pain was forming in Kaito's belly, yet he couldn't see a different resolution either. He sensed Homunculus' agreement. :_I searched, boy. I searched every pattern I could. There are no paths that do not lead to death for one or all of you. No paths that can make your world perfectly right._:

:_Maybe. But I don't have to like it,_: Kaito shot back at his unwilling companion. :_Oh, I see what you mean. I understand. And I HATE it._:

Faint sad amusement flooded the link. :_Ah. And you believe I enjoy it. I assure you, I do not. The time in my existence when watching you humans squirm was pleasurable is long since past._: If Kaito couldn't feel the aching regret that twisted through his unwilling companion he wouldn't have believed it. As it was, he was hard pressed not to cry out under its pressure. :_Now. Allow me to finish here_:

Kuroba Toshi was speaking, repeating, "I said, what would you have _me_ do? How do I fix things?"

"First, give me the gem you have stolen." At Kuroba's startled expression, Homunculus smiled. "I know. In that other time I told you that I could not touch it. That I could not take it to protect it from you. This body is not the one I wore, in that time and place. I can touch and hold it now, where I could not before."

Slowly, Kuroba removed a slender ruby colored stone from his pocket. "Here, then." Homunculus reached out and Kaito could feel the heat from inside the stone, feel the pressure of the energies within it. Then his hand tightened, energies from Homunculus' self merging with the stone and shattering it. Pain seared through them, an agonized scream echoed in their ears. :_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_: His question was echoed by his father's.

"In your timeline, this stone would give its owners what they desire. Are you at all inclined to allow them that grace? To permit them to defeat time?" Homunculus cocked Kaito's head and smiled wryly. "I thought not." He opened the hand, fingers shaking, strange fiery blood pouring down and fading away into nothing. "Now. There are two more things."

Kuroba Toshi straightened. "What?"

"I must take your existence. I must create a false stone that contains your memories, a trap that will show your past self what will happen, should he continue on the path you took. Without that encouragement he will certainly ignore my warnings and your family will die."

Dark blue eyes blinked. "I see. But will that be enough to save them? Even if I... he... chooses not to obey, _they_ hold his family hostage."

Kaito knew the answer to that and Homunculus allowed him to speak. "He'll give them the false stone." His throat hurt. "And they will kill you, to keep your silence. They won't kill your family because they are ignorant of what is going on."

A startled look crossed Kuroba's face. "Your voice.. changed."

The next answer was Homunculus. "I told you I was of two minds. And that is the last thing I would have of you." Kaito felt himself being given control as Homunculus continued, "Your son would like to speak with you."

oOo

_The moments that follow are private and Homunculus carefully shields his entire awareness from what is happening. He must trust that Kaito will not betray their cause, will not permit his love for his father to interfere with what he knows must happen. The sadness he feels is intense and it is not - entirely - Kaito's alone. _

_In the past, though such a concept is inaccurate for a being like himself, Homunculus would have been disgusted, would never have taken such risks. That past, though, was one of continued pain, of self-destructive lashing out. He is not that creature anymore. Humankind has changed him, softened him enough to make it impossible for him to see them as mere pawns in a game of life and death. _

_Anymore than he, himself, was._

oOo

Reality had returned around them, Homunculus' use of his digipad bringing them back into Kuroba Toshi's timeline. "Good luck." Kuroba's voice ached as he eyed the body that contained both Homunculus and Kaito. "Both of you."

"You... be careful... here," Kaito whispered, fingering the false stone Homunculus had created with this version of his father's memories. "I wish..."

"I know. But it can't be. I can't see a way to make it work," Kuroba agreed. "Go on. Don't waste time."

Now that amused both Homunculus and Kaito, though it was Homunculus who answered, "Time is the one thing we _can't_ waste right now. Goodbye, Kuroba." He fiddled with the digipad and once again the world turned inside out. The next thing Kaito knew, they were standing in darkness. Through Homunculus' eyes, though, he could see clearly, as if by another light entirely. The room was nearly unchanged, though the padlock on the cabinet was - once more - locked. :_This is where _you_ come in,_: Homunculus thought at Kaito, who nodded. His body was entirely under his control again, though he could feel Homunculus watching through their shared eyes. :_It really weirds me out, being watched over my shoulder like this._:

:_I'll stay out of the way, Kaito. I have no clue how to do what you do. But it's fascinating, watching a master at work._: The compliment felt very real, surprisingly so. :_Best hurry. I can feel the time your father reaches this point approaching._:

Kaito went to work. It was with some pride that he realized that he was undoing the same lock his father had, and doing so with equal skill. Certainly it took no longer for him to pick the lock than it had his father. :_Et voila._: he thought at Homunculus and was amused at the soft mental applause the gesture elicited.

This time the cabinet held something other than the digipad. A small book, exceedingly familiar to both himself and Homunculus. The strange pentagram on the front caused a small headache and it was an effort for Kaito to reach past it to take the elegant little wooden statue of a worm swallowing its tail beyond it. :_My turn, I believe._: Homunculus' fingers pressed and twisted, worked tiny levers using Kaito's picks. :_You could do it, of course, but we don't have time._:

Kaito agreed as the central part of the statue clicked open, revealing the ruby stone that was the cause of all the troubles. The Pandora Gem. Its heat burned at his fingers, the power within it echoing with the power inside his Self. :_You could destroy it now,_: Homunculus told Kaito quietly. :_But..._:

"I've already agreed. I hate it. I hate everything about this. But I've agreed." Kaito took the false stone out of his pocket, slid it into place, then returned everything to normal. "Dad's turn, I guess."

oOo

_They hide in the shadows, watching as the Kuroba Toshi of this time period does what he has come to do. Listening as the Homunculus of this time appears and tries to convince the thief to relent, to convince him that his choice would only lead to disaster. _

_As he always does, however, Kuroba Toshi is unable to listen. His family has been threatened. He cannot refuse to steal the gem. Cannot leave his family to die. He reaches out, opens the statue containing the stone and takes it in his hand. _

_The light as the power within it explodes is blinding._

To Be Continued...


	4. Entangled Lives

**_PHANTOM SHADOWS_**  
Chapter 3: Entangled Lives - In which Kaito learns that time cannot be changed.  
A KaitouKid/Shadow of Destiny Crossover  
By  
Deborah J. Brown.

Kaitou Kid is Copyright Aoyama Gosho. Shadow of Destiny and all concepts relating to it is Copyright Konami.

* * *

"Perhaps I was a bit overenthusiastic with that spell," Homunculus muttered as he moved Kaito's body out of the shadows to where Kuroba Toshi and his other self were standing, stunned by the light.

"You think?" Kaito asked, wryly, waving his hand in front of Homunculus' real face. The creature was standing, hands over his eyes, whimpering. So was his father, the stone that had contained the other Kuroba Toshi's memories clutched in one hand. "Did it work, though?"

This Kuroba Toshi was opening his eyes, blinking, as was the real Homunculus. "Y... you... What is going on here?" he gasped.

"Time," the real Homunculus said softly, a terrible sadness in it. "...is..."

"Time _was_..." Kaito's voice answered. "The path breaks here. Your choice, Phantom Thief. Will you continue on that ill-fated course? Or will you accept that what you have been shown is truth?"

Kuroba gazed at Kaito, who realized that Homunculus had included everything about the last hour in those transferred memories. Included the knowledge that the body Homunculus shared was Kaito's, brought back from the future where he was not killed, where Kuroba had sacrificed his own life in order to allow his family to live.

"Son..." This Kuroba knew from those memories how hard this was for Kaito. How little he wanted to choose this path.

"I follow in your footsteps, Dad. I become the Kaito Kid," Kaito couldn't help saying. "I just wish you were there to see it. Wish we could work together. There's so much I still have to learn. So much you could have shown me." He bit at his lip, ignoring the way Homunculus protested the gesture within his mind. "I'm... sorry it has to be this way."

There was a long silence. When Kuroba spoke, it was with a voice that was infinitely sad. "I as well, son." He pocketed the false gem. "Because I believe you'd have made me proud. No. I don't need to believe that. You already have." He turned away, glanced angrily at the real Homunculus, who was watching everything with the strangest expression on his face. "Take better care of what's yours. That stone brings only trouble." Then he was gone.

Kaito's body turned to face that other Homunculus, who sighed. "I take it this is the only way?"

"The only one I've found, certainly," Homunculus answered. "Do I need to repeat myself about how Eike would feel?"

A soft, tired laugh. "No. Your spell was quite enough to show me that. The other line is too disastrous to follow. It cannot be set right."

Kaito's head nodded. "Then you know what _you_ have to do?"

"Quite so. You'll handle the other side of things? I don't know that the boy and his mother are truly safe, and since he seems to be required..." The real Homunculus' eyes gazed at Kaito and his lips quirked slightly. "Not to mention we owe him."

"My... mother? Me... But..."

It was the Homunculus who shared his body that answered. "Your father stole the gem in the other line. He will not, this time, hand it over and escape, as he did then, but that does not change the nature of those who stole it... We can prevent that. If we hurry."

oOo

_He can feel the circling of the boy's thoughts in their shared mind. Can tell how Kaito is trying to work things out so that maybe, just maybe, everything could be made okay again. _:I don't become the Kaito Kid if my father lives, do I? That's why I can't do it: _The sadness in Kaito's heart is terrible, almost more than Homunculus can bear. _

_They are flying through town as the boy thinks, the glider carrying them back to the Kaitou Kid's home. At least this time, early in the morning hours, it is easier for him to handle the speed, the feeling of motion, the _fear_ that all of this instills. _I will be so very glad when this is over.

_Realizing he hasn't answered the boy's question, he sighs. _:Time is what it is. Its course can be molded but it cannot be created wholesale. Creating gold is far easier, really. Even immortality...:

:In other words; No. I can't.: _Kaito's sigh is as tired as Homunculus feels. _:Never mind. I should have known better than to ask. You've been telling me all this time.: _The boy is not - yet - willing to give up his hopes. Not - yet - willing to stop dreaming. Which is well enough. _We all need to dream, after all.

* * *

Kneeling on the rooftop of his neighbor's house, Kaito peered through the living room window. _I don't remember this,_ he thought, then understood why. He... his earlier self... was asleep, curled up in his own bed, blissfully unaware of the fact that his mother was being held hostage by a black clad man holding a semi-automatic. Hell, no one would know that unless they were, like him, seated on a roof, able to see the man hiding in the corner, forcing his mother to behave as if everything was perfectly normal.

_Have to hurry. It's getting close to the time when they kill mom and me._ The sense was Homunculus' but Kaito was beginning to get a feel for time himself, one he wasn't sure he liked anymore than Homunculus liked being in a human body. It felt like a raging river was trying to pick him up and sweep him away. _I wonder how he stands it? _

Very cautiously, Kaito slid down the drainpipe and made his way to the back door. He didn't even have to pick this lock, he carried the key in his pocket, and it was easy to make his way into the house. :_One man upstairs,_: Homunculus warned him. :_Guarding your room. Another in the bathroom... on personal business. The third is with your mother._:

:_Can you do that trick with time that you did when Dad tried to hit you? Keep me from getting shot?_:

A soft laugh in Kaito's mind. :_Keep _us_ from getting shot, you mean. I would not enjoy the experience, I assure you. Yes. I can and I will._: As Kaito made his way upstairs to find the man guarding his room, he started to draw his card gun, then wondered if it could be made to work while Homunculus was defending them. :_Uhm..._:

:_Don't bother with that. Once time pauses you'll be able to do what must be done, boy. We don't have time to make elaborate plans or play._:

Kaito rolled his eyes. :_Backseat driver._: The insult elicited another of those small chuckles, and he returned his weapon to its hiding place. _ All right, Kaitou Kid. It's showtime!_ He flung himself forward, rolling across the hall, even as the man he was attacking fired his weapon. The noise ought to have been deafening, but time was slowing down around Kaito. He could see the bullet slowly exiting the muzzle, could see the cloud of gun smoke that began to billow after it. Something made him reach out, grasp the bullet lightly between his fingers and turn it upwards.

:_I can't change the laws of physics, Kaito. Inertia is still going to send that bullet in the direction it was headed. Try this._: The image came to Kaito of moving the bullet to a position outside the window. :_It will hit the telephone post outside your house from there. Hurry._:

Following directions wasn't Kaito's strong suit, but he obeyed this time, shrugging. "You can change time to suit yourself but you can't do a thing about inertia? What use are you?" He ignored the snort at the back of his mind and returned his attention to the man in front of him. "Don't suppose you could leave me this trick when we get separated? We _are_ going to separate, aren't we?"

:_Believe me. I want it as badly as you. And no. I can _not_ give you the skill. You're quite good enough already without cheating, boy. Now, would you mind hurrying?_: Time was about to shift back into gear again, Kaito could feel it. He moved quickly, grasping the man's weapon and tearing it from his hands. Then he pulled out his can of anesthetic gas and sprayed it in the man's face, just as time returned entirely. Inside he felt a hollowness, a shuddering exhaustion that he knew was Homunculus'. :_I will be all right. Keep moving. Try to take the next one without my help. The one on your mother is the most dangerous._:

oOo

_He would dearly love to just faint, then and there. It might even prove interesting, considering that he probably _could_ at this point. However, doing so would not be a good idea. Not when there are still two killers ready and willing to do what they do best. _

_Kaito moves quickly but with that quiet that is the better part of his skill as a thief. Within a few seconds he is at the door to the bathroom. Rather to Homunculus' surprise, the boy simply taps on it. "Hurry!" he growls, muffling his voice. _

_"Gimmee a break. I'm almost done!" _

_Another tap, eliciting another grumble, then a third. By this time the man on the other side of the bathroom door is out of patience. He flings the door open, just in time to receive a face full of Kaito's special concoction. "Nighty night, little boy," he murmurs as the man drops to the floor. _

_Inwardly, Homunculus smiles._

oOo

:_All right. Can you hold time again?_: Kaito paused in the hallway outside the living room, listening to the sound of his mother's frightened breathing. Beneath that sound is silence. The killer was experienced and calm. Entirely unworried and entirely unconcerned by his hostage's terror. _Bastard_. Kaito would have liked to run in, then and there, but knew he needed every advantage he could get.

:_For a very short time. Hurry._: Kaito felt time begin to slow and it occurred to him that he might have longer if Homunculus didn't stop it entirely. The thought elicited a sense of agreement and the response::_At this speed, then. MOVE!_:

Homunculus didn't really have to yell to get his point across. Kaito was already moving, rolling across the floor and coming up with his card gun in hand. He fired, his card flying through the air at 'normal' speed while the bullets slowly emerged from the muzzle of his enemy's weapon and moved past him. Then the card had buried itself in the barrel and the next shot began to explode in the man's face.

Kaito hurried. Not in all his family's history had one of them allowed a man to die if they could help it. He didn't plan on being the first. Using a nearby chair he knocked the gun free of the man's hand, then shoved the man himself backwards, into the wall. Time was beginning to speed again as he sprayed a final dose of his 'medicine' in the killer's face.

"Oh... my... god..."

The voice was Kaito's mother, the sound so terrified that Kaito longed to rush to her, to hold onto her and comfort her. This night was almost over but the worst of it was yet to come, when news of his father's death came to them. He did nothing but rise to his feet, keeping his face turned away. "I'm sorry all of this had to happen, Mrs. Kuroba. You have no idea _how_ sorry." An idea hit him. "Call Nakamori. Tell him the Phantom Kid is about to be murdered at the Tokyo Tower."

"My... my husband... Murdered?" He could hear her grabbing at the phone, even as the shock of realization came to him. She knew his father was the Kid. Which meant she probably knew, later, that he was as well. And throughout all of it, she had never said a word. _Oh mom. I must worry you terribly._

:_It won't be in time, child._: Homunculus' voice was exhausted, tired beyond measure. :_I'm sorry._:

:_We can try. We have to try!_: Even now Kaito harbored hope, even now he dared believe that everything would be all right. His father would live, would let him start early. He could still go through this song and dance, save everyone and everything would be okay. _Right? _

"He's not there... At a murder scene? At the Tokyo Tower?" His mother's voice trailed away. "I... see. I'll talk to him later, then. Thank you, lieutenant."

Before Kaito could so much as scream denial, Homunculus had pulled out the digipad and twisted them back out of time.

oOo

_They stand at the center of everything, at the heart of time itself, the flow going past. A stream of endless light, as beautiful a sight as any a human could see. Kaito does not care, however and he is raging silently within their shared body. "It is not what I want. It is not what I desire. But it _is_ what must be," he tells the boy. His companion in this is not listening, nor can Homunculus blame him. Quietly he waits, listening to the flow of time, the slow sweet song that is his mistress' lullaby. Things are not quite finished, there is still the gem to dispose of. But first, there is a heart to be soothed. _

_At last the boy quiets. "I hate you." _

_"I understand." Another boy had hated him once, hated him so much that he turned time upside down and inside out to destroy him, never realizing that he was Homunculus' ultimate creator. That same boy was, somewhere back in time, now among the few true friends Homunculus could claim. For him, for the family that had become his, for this unexpected descendant of a child born only because time had been repaired, he had no choice but to do what he could to soothe what he could not repair. _

_Kaito's hand holds the gem, clenched so tightly in his fist that were it as fragile as Homunculus it would shatter. "I could destroy this. Mess up all your plans, all your grand scheme. It would be the last thing I'd do, I know that much, but I could do it!" _

_"I know." _

_"Where does it go now?" Kaito's voice is tired, exhausted beyond all measure, nor can Homunculus blame him. "Take me there. Before I change my mind. Before I destroy it for you."_

* * *

Once more to a library, but not the one that Kaito was beginning to think was the only one he'd ever see. This one was more European in structure, the books all in German or French. Even a few in English. At a computer behind one desk an awkwardly tall blonde man was peering nearsightedly at the monitor. "It _ate_ my file."

"I keep telling you those things are the work of the devil," Homunculus moved their body forward and Kaito stared around, puzzled. This place had nothing whatsoever to do with his home, with his father. "We're in Lebensbaum, Germany, Kaito-kun. This is Eike Kusche."

Green eyes gave them a puzzled look. "Eh? What are you up to, Homunculus? Has there been a problem with the plan? Have you been causing trouble again? Who were you talking to? And what _did_ you do to your face? You seem different."

"Where the gem is, trouble follows, Eike. You know that. Not even the wards Hugo and I placed on the statue were enough to protect it entirely." Homunculus sighed. "I have caused much pain, Eike. Yet I cannot find another way to resolve the problem that does not destroy everything else." He continued the explanation, even as Kaito's gaze drifted through the room, eying the books curiously, appraising the paintings hanging from various walls. Then Homunculus was done and Eike was sighing. Kaito returned his attention to them, waiting.

"I... have no idea what to do, Kaito. In a lot of ways, this is my fault." Eike faltered at the expression on Kaito's face.

"You would take that approach," Homunculus sighed. "This is many people's fault, mine included. Nor can we do anything about it at this late date. Kuroba Toshi is no longer a part of this world. He cannot be restored to it without changing whom _this_ Kaito is. A fact the boy understands only too well."

"'The boy' is perfectly able to speak for himself," Kaito growled, taking over again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gem. "It's for you, isn't it? Why wait until now to take it?"

Rising to his feet, Eike sighed. "Because time demanded that we wait until this day, until this hour, for me to do so. When I place my hand on it, everything I have experienced in the last few years will be - temporarily - blocked from my memories, to be replaced by another older pattern." Eike moved slowly forward, expression worried, clearly afraid a false move would cause Kaito to shatter the gem on the floor, or take some other disastrous action. Kaito wanted to, but he also understood just how disastrous doing so would be. How little it would really solve. "A pattern that will cause me to take it backwards through time to the place where it will be used to do what must be done."

Kaito sighed. "Take it, then. And good luck to you." Eike's hand closed on the gem and he jerked sharply, made a soft keening noise. He stumbled backwards, eyes blank and confused, and left the room, walking like a man in a dream.

"And now," Homunculus said softly, "It is time to make an end to all this." One more time the world twisted on itself as the digipad operated.

* * *

_The witch is gone now, fled from the scene of her disastrous attempt to steal knowledge not meant for her. Now the room is empty except for Kaito and Homunculus, separate once again. _

_"Then it's over?" _

_"For you, yes. Your part is completed and - though you will not have me say it - completed admirably." Homunculus drifts through the room, touches the chamber in which he was born. Strokes the cool glass, remembering that long ago day. Remembering pain and fear, turned to joy and relief. _

_Kaito's voice cuts through the air like a diamond blade. "You're right. I don't want you to say it." His voice broke. "I lost my father because of this. Not just once, but _twice. No. Three_ times. For a few moments there I spoke with him, I was able to tell him how much I loved him. But I was unable to _save_ him!" _

_He cannot answer. He gazes at the chamber instead, hearing another voice crying for his father, crying for his mother. In another time and place he hated that voice. Now he can only grieve for it, for all the foolish messed up humans that simply cannot accept and move on. For himself, unable to do anything but cause pain and trouble in the lives of those who need him. He has been human for a brief agonizing moment and the experience has shaken him entirely. Shaken him to the core. _

_Silently, unable to do anything else, he weeps. Weeps tears of blood._

oOo

Kaito could see Homunculus' face reflected in the glass of the birthing chamber. Could see the slow stream of bloody tears that trickled down his cheeks. "The stone that weeps tears of blood," he whispered. "You... that gem... YOU'RE..."

Homunculus turned, lifting his head in that odd proud way of his. "The Pandora Gem. The Frozen Flame. The Philosopher's Stone. The changer of lives, the transformer of time, the ultimate expression of the alchemist's art. It has had other names in other places and other times but in the end, in the very end, it is my life, solidified and carried backwards thru time in a form that can survive the rigors of such travel. Only joined with you was I able to take a hand. Only joined with you could I re-sort time to something that could hold steady once more. And now, it is, as you say, all over."

The slender small form moved awkwardly forward, giving the appearance of a puppet on strings commanded by an inexperienced puppeteer. Ruby eyes gazed into Kaito's, aching sadness in them. "All is over," he repeated. "Over and done to the point that, if you chose to complete the oath that you have made, to destroy the Pandora gem, you could do so right now. Without your flesh to protect me, I am as easily shattered as the doll I appear to be. If you so desire."

Kaito stepped back. It would have been one thing to destroy the Pandora Gem. To shatter it to tiny little pieces and scatter its remains upon his father's grave as he had sworn. But that was when it _was_ a stone. Not a living being, not a person. Not someone with whom he had shared a life and mind for a brief time. He might hate everything that had happened, but he couldn't just kill someone simply because their existence had caused him pain. "I don't." he gasped. He couldn't. "Why are _you_ crying?" he demanded. "Everything you wanted has happened."

There is a moment of silence as Homunculus seemed to try and find the right words. "No. Not everything. In the past few hours I have lived as part of you. I have felt your pain. My entire body still rings with the force of your sorrow, with the knowledge that we could do nothing to change your father's fate."

"I don't want your tears!"

"You want your father. And of all the people in the world, there is only one to whom I owe more. Only one other for whom I would gladly give the gift that others would take uncaring. Yet I cannot return your childhood to you. Cannot restore your family to what it once was. You may not want my tears, child, but you have them none the less."

Somehow that only angered Kaito more. He could sense that his feelings had helped change a creature that had little experience with feelings, that Homunculus had been transformed in a way that even _he_ didn't fully comprehend. _And I don't want sympathy. I want to have a reason to be angry, a legitimate target for my anger._ "Just... go away and leave me alone. I never want to see you again."

A small bow was the response. "If that is your desire. Just remember, I _do_ owe you and I do pay my debts where I am able."

Debts. The way Kaito saw it, there was only one debt owed and it wasn't one that could ever be repaid. He turned away, glared at the birthing chamber, watching Homunculus' reflection in the polished glass. "I want my father back. And that is something _you_ cannot do."

"Not as such, no." The voice came from an unexpected direction. A man walking out of the shadows. Distorted by the glass through which Kaito saw him, he seemed taller, trimmer, than Kaito knew him to be. _Jiichan?_ He glanced over his shoulder, saw surprise and - oddly enough - relief on the pale face. Jiichan continued to move closer, held out a handkerchief to Homunculus, who took it after a moment of hesitation. "Kuroba Toshi cannot live again. Cannot return to his family. Not as Kuroba Toshi."

Kaito remembered suddenly. Two voices, speaking together in perfect understanding. 'Then you know what _you_ have to do?' 'Quite so.' His eyes widened. "FATHER?"

oOo

_Memories. His past self colliding with his future. Comprehension of what must be done. It is not the first time he has transformed a human from one age to another. Not the first time he has shifted time within a single body. The other time was actually harder, transforming Wolfgang Wagner into the man who would be Eike Kusche in another, now defunct, timeline. That had been an act of petty vengeance, an effort to change what could not be changed. This transformation had been simpler and proved the right one by virtue of the fact that the real Jiichan had been an old man, too near the end of his life to aid Kuroba Kaito on his path to becoming the Kaitou Kid. _

_Kuroba Toshi had not been pleased. But then, Homunculus hadn't done it for him._

oOo

"I... did not think you would come here," Homunculus said, wiping the last of the bloody tears from his face and gazing levelly at Kuroba...Kaito shook himself. _No. I'd best not start thinking of him as father..._ Gazing levelly at Jiichan. "You were rather out of sorts with me, when we parted last."

Jiichan shrugged, ruffling Kaito's hair. "Son. I'm an old man and I'm having a bit of trouble breathing right now. I'd appreciate... yes, thanks." Kaito grinned up at his father from his position under the man's arm, his own arms wrapped around Jiichan's waist, relaxing his grip but not releasing it. With a shrug, the man who'd guided Kaito through the early days of his existence as the Kaitou Kid answered Homunculus' unspoken question, "Well, I was. I did a lot of research though. Found out a lot about my family history in the process."

Homunculus shrugged in turn. "And?"

"And I realized why you did it. Kuroba Toshi would always be a target. Even if the members of the organization who came after me, and my family, were silenced there'd always be a chance another would find out. Another would come after me. We had to wait until Kaito was old enough. And someone would have to be there to help him when he was. Someone who knew exactly how to be a Kaitou. Someone who knew exactly what the dangers were he'd face. Someone who was once Kuroba Toshi and was now transformed into someone several decades older."

A soft laugh. "Do you think that was all?"

"I did. Until I heard you just now, I hadn't really forgiven you for doing... this... to me." Jiichan eyed Homunculus, who gazed back with a nearly seraphic smile on his lips. "Now... I think I understand. Doesn't mean I have to like it, but I think I understand."

Kaito nodded. He didn't entirely like it either, but he had to appreciate the elegant simplicity. The thing he wanted most was his father alive and well. Yet Kuroba Toshi could not live past the day he was supposed to die without changing Kaito's path. This was the only way Homunculus could give Kaito the thing he most desired. "Does... mom know?"

"No, son. I don't believe so. She never knew about my other business. I was careful not to let her realize. It's better that way. I hate like anything to make her grieve for me but if she knew... she'd be in danger."

Kaito blinked. It seemed it was a family habit, this keeping secrets from loved ones. His father, himself, hiding their game from his mother. And his mother hiding the fact that she'd known, all along, just what they were up to. He grinned at Homunculus, who grinned back knowingly. "Guess that's true, Jiichan," he agreed.

With a bow, Homunculus turned to go. "You'd best get home, Kaito. You have a test tomorrow and I expect you to at least pass." His tone shifted as he moved away and Kaito recognized it. _Kataichi._ "You _did_ remember to study, didn't you, boy?"

"Ohmigod. The test. I forgot all about... Can't you give me a break, teach?"

Homunculus chuckled, pausing to look over his shoulder. "I can give you all the time in the world to study, instead."

Kaito shook his head. "I'll do a crash course tomorrow morning. Just like always. No more time travel. Nada! Zip! Zilch! From here on I do things the old fashioned way. One second following the next."

The slender body was beginning to fade, shifting from feet up to small bubbles bursting and disappearing into nothingness. "How very human of you, boy. How very human." Then Homunculus was gone.

With a grin, Kaito turned to Jiichan. "Let's go home."

To Be Continued...


	5. Epilogue

**_Phantom Shadows_**  
Epilogue  
A KaitouKid/Shadow of Destiny Crossover  
By  
Deborah J. Brown.

Kaitou Kid is Copyright Aoyama Gosho. Shadow of Destiny and all concepts relating to it is Copyright Konami.

* * *

_"I don't suppose you'd care to explain what was going on, just before I left?" _

_The two are sitting in the bar 'sharing' a beer. Rather, Eike is drinking it and Homunculus, mind linked forever and all with his creation, is sharing the taste through the link. It's a good beer, too, one that is rapidly becoming one of Homunculus' favorite tastes. That and, oddly enough, hot buttered toast. _

_Homunculus coughs. "There was a complication." _

_"A... complication?" _

_"Word gets around. The stone was stolen." _

_Green eyes gaze at him levelly and he shifts, uncomfortably. "I thought you said you bespelled it so only someone of Hugo's family could find it." Eike counts as part of that family because his body is a perfect copy of the Eike Kusche created from Wolfgang Wagner so many iterations ago. _

_"I did. Kuroba Toshi is descended from Hulda Wagner. Hugo's little sister, born only because his mother lived past the day she should have died. Born entirely due to the power I used to heal her mother." Comprehension fills Eike's eyes and Homunculus nods. "The one person best suited to find the stone - aside from yourself. The one person best suited to _steal_ the stone. Touched by the power of time itself and shaped by it. And he becomes a Phantom Thief." _

_Eike covers his face with his hands. "Oh man." _

_"That's not quite how _I_ put it, but the sentiment was shared. Suffice it to say that we nearly had a disaster. As it was, I was forced to leave that boy fatherless for entirely too long." Homunculus shrugs. "Or rather, I will be. He was from some time in the future. The part of me in that time didn't enjoy the resolution at all. Nor am _I_ looking forward to it, either." _

_Taking another sip of that marvelous beer, Eike sighs. "Dare I hope that will be it, then? Once the stone is back in the past, everything is settled, yes?" _

_"Once we get past the date the boy and I have our little... adventure... yes. The timeline will be secure. As for you and I? You never know what kind of trouble we'll get into." _

_Blonde hair falls forward as Eike drops his head onto his chest. "You're hiding things from me again. Aren't you?" _

_"Why Eike, if I told you it'd spoil the fun. My fun." Homunculus chuckles and dodges the peanut Eike throws. "Of course, things have to stay stable for a few more years and I plan on making sure they do. Long enough for me to reach the point where my future self can take young Kaito through that bit of unpleasantness. Afterwards." He gestures, hands raised in a particularly gallic shrug. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see."_

The End


End file.
